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This recipe starts 24 hours in advance with the soaking of the raisins in the rum. I soak them in a shallow airtight glass or plastic container. Stirring them several times during the day. After 24 hours the raisins should have soaked up practically all of the rum. You can do this days or weeks in advance if you want. It makes no difference as long as they are stored in an airtight container.
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Grease a 10 inch springform pan well and line it with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
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Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda (and the spices if you are including them). Set aside.
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Cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
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Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
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Next blend in the molasses until well combined.
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Fold in 3 /4 of the dry ingredients mixture, until almost incorporated. A few streaks of flour should remain, so that it isn't over mixed.
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Add the soaked raisins and any remaining rum. There should be very little if any left.
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Fold the raisins for several turns before adding the last of the dry ingredient mixture. Fold until the batter is smooth.
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Add the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 2 hours or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Test it with a clean wooden toothpick at two or three points near the centre to be absolutely sure the cake is baked.
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Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes before releasing the sides of the pan and sliding the cake onto a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
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Store the cake well wrapped in a cool place.
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At this point you can poke small holes in the top and bottom of the cake with a fork and pour on 4 ounces of dark rum or your favorite whiskey, half on the top, wait ten minutes, then flip it over and pour the remaining half on the bottom.
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Soak several layers of cheesecloth in additional rum if you like and wrap completely around the cake, then cover with several layers of plastic wrap and store in a COOL place.